Big rainmaker heading our way<\/p>\n
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 I know a lot of you have been watching the skies and checking your lawns \u2014 we\u2019re in a big rain deficit here in the Jacksonville area. Right now, some spots are 15 to 25 inches or more below where we should be for rainfall. If you\u2019ve noticed brown grass or that persistent smoky smell, you\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n Fires have been a real problem in places like Brantley County, with smoke drifting out toward Waycross and even north of Lake City. It\u2019s gotten to the point where any talk of real rain is something worth celebrating.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the good news: I\u2019m tracking a stalled front on The Weather Authority\u2019s Exact Track 4D radar that\u2019s expected to turn things around, at least for a few days. By Saturday, that front should deliver an 80% chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms. These storms could bring at least an inch of rainfall, maybe even more in your neighborhood. That\u2019s exactly what we need to help with our fire risk and recharge those parched lawns.<\/p>\n The front is forecast to start moving south on Sunday, lowering our rain chances to about 50%. It\u2019s not a permanent fix \u2014 our deficit is just too large \u2014 but it\u2019s a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n Hot days, weekend cool down<\/p>\n Right now, most of us are waking up to temperatures in the 60s, except for our friends in Palatka, where it dipped briefly into the 50s. Believe it or not, we\u2019re going to rocket up into the 90s today, so don\u2019t forget sunscreen and water if you\u2019re out and about!<\/p>\n Winds are calm for now, but expect some gusts to pick up later\u2014especially around areas near active fires. Our daytime highs will run above average through Saturday, then some cooler air moves in behind that rain-laden front. By Sunday, daytime highs are forecast to drop to about 75 degrees before bouncing back next week.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re planning any tee time or outdoor activity, I recommend moving your plans inside just in case the storms arrive early. The Saturday soaker could make things messy!<\/p>\n Air quality and smoke on the radar<\/p>\n Air quality is okay right now, but it\u2019s going to bounce around as winds shift and storms roll in. The biggest fire and smoke impacts are in Brantley County, with plumes pushing toward Waycross and north of Lake City. At this time, visibility is fine across most of the region, and we\u2019re not seeing any major air quality issues on my maps.<\/p>\n Keep checking our weather tools and app to get real-time air quality updates. I\u2019ll be keeping a close eye as the front approaches\u2014hopefully the rainfall will give us a break from that lingering smoke.<\/p>\n Stay weather-aware, share with SnapJAX<\/p>\n Weather changes fast this time of year! Be sure to check Exact Track 4D for the latest radar updates, and stay weather-aware if you\u2019ve got weekend plans. And if you catch a dramatic sky or rainfall shot, I\u2019d love to see it\u2014share your weather photos with SnapJAX at news4jax.com\/snapjax\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Big rainmaker heading our way JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 I know a lot of you have been watching the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":761158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,6772,24257,312778,3188,723,1599,7310,29626,31866,37062,24258,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,312779],"class_list":["post-761157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-drought","tag-exact-track-4d","tag-fire-relief","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-forecast","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-weather","tag-news4jax-weather","tag-rain-forecast","tag-the-weather-authority","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-weekend-storms"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}